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(No Model.)

P. A. N. WINAND. APPARATUS FOR MAKING GAS.

I Patented May 3, 1892.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OF ICE.

PAUL A. N. WINAND, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO SOHLEICHER, SOHUMM & 00., OF SAME PLACE.

APPARATUS FOR MAKING GAS.

SPECIFICATION forming. part of Letters Patent No. 474,201, dated May 3, 1892.

Application filed March 29, 1890. Serial No. 345,891. (No model.)

To (til whmn it may concern.-

Be it known that I, PAUL A. N. \VINAND, a subject of the King of Belgium, but now residing at the cityof Philadelphia,in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Making Gas, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to apparatus for cooling, purifying, and distributing gas generated, preferably, from solid fuel and especially adapted for gas-engine purposes.

The principal objects of my present invention are, first, to provide simple, efficient, and durable apparatus for cooling, purifying, and distributing gas; second, to introduce into the producer a mixture of air and steam at a uniform temperature, and, third, to employ the heat of the gas to warm the mixture of air and steam introduced into the producer.

The nature and characteristic features of my present invention will be more fully understood from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming part hereof, and in which- Figure 1 is a view, partly in elevation and partly in vertical section, of an apparatus embodying the characteristic features of my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view, drawn to a larger scale, of the thermostat shown in Fi 1.

ln the drawings, A represents a cylindrical casing or shell divided horizontally into two compartments A and A and provided with the various pipe connections hereinafter explained. In the interior of these compartments and near the respective floors thereof are located the horizontal perforated plates or grills a and a for supporting a mass of broken material of a porous nature, such as coke.

X represents a gasproducer, and a superheater, consisting of a shell or casing (11- vided into three compartments 1, 2, and 3 by the partitions y y. A series of vertical tubes g are contained in the compartment 2, their ends being secured in the partitlons y y. These tubes establish communication between the compartments 1 and 3. A pipe I) leads from the upper part of the producer to the upper part of the compartment 2, and a pipe B leads from the lower part of thecompartment 2 and dips beneath the surface of the water contained in the bottom of the compartment A.

A is a water-supply pipe provided at or near the external end with a U-shaped trap a and a funnel a and at the opposite extremity with a perforated extension a extending into the interior of the compartment A above the coke or other porous material.

a is a pipe located vertically above the funnel a with a valve or stop-cock a and communicating with a water-main or other suitable source of supply of water.

A is a pipe communicating with the lower portion of the interior of this compartment and discharging hot water therefrom around i the thermostat P into a receptacle A.

a is a rod actuated by the thermostat to turn the plug of the valve or stop-cock a".

Referring now to the lower compartment or moistener A 0 is a pipe leading to the upper interior portion thereof for conveying a mixture of air and steam to the compartment 3, from whence it passes up through the tubes 3) to the compartment 1, thence through a pipe 0 to the ash-pit of the producer X.

A is an overflow-pipe provided with a U- shaped trap at, extending upward through the bottom to near the top of the receptacle A This pipe A also communicates with the interior of the compartment or moistener A and discharges its contents through perforations formed therein above the bed of the coke or other porous material mounted in said moistener. A is a waste-pipe provided with a funnel a communicating with the lower portion of the interior of this compartment or moistener. D is an inlet near the bottom of this compartment A for the admission of air therein for subsequent delivery at a constant temperature.

E is a pipe for conducting the gas away from the compartment A after it is purified and cooled by contact with the water and with the moist coke or other porous material. This pipe may lead either directly to the place where the gas is consumed or it may communicate with a small gas-holder.

A small gas-holder G is preferably employed in order to equalize any sudden changes in the production of gas which occur in practice, although the producer may be continuous in action and the gas generated therein of constant quality. It may be found convenient in some instances to connect the small holder with a blower, fan, or exhauster for readily controlling the quantity of gas forced or drawn into the same from the producer.

L is a pipe extending beneath the gas-holder G and communicating with the interior of the sealed vessel M above the surface of theliquid contained therein.

N is a pipe communicating with the upper portion of the vessel M and with a gas-engine, for example, of the type known as the Otto gas-engine.

The branch E of the pipe E extends for a short distance above the surface of the liquid in the open tank 0. The pipe 0 also extends for a short distance above the surface of the liquid in the open tank 0 and communicates with the air or with a flue or chimney. The inverted bell O envelops the extremities of the pipes E and O and dips beneath the surface of the liquid in the tank 0. The interior of the bell O is divided into two C0111- partments by a short partition 0 so that when the bell or dome O is raised the pipes E and O communicate with one another, and when the hell or dome is lowered adjacent extremities of the these pipes are sealed.

Referring to the drawings, and especially to Fig. 2, wherein is illustrated an efficient thermostat and in which P is a metallic cup, 29 is a metallic shell open at the upper end and secured by lugs 19 to the interior of the cup P. The elastic diaphragm 13 covers the upper open portion of the shell 19 and is firmly clamped in position by a ring 19 The space between the shell 1) and the diaphragm p is filled with a liquid which is volatilized when the temperature of the water flowing through the cup P exceeds the required number of de grees. The piston 19 secured to or made part of the rod a rests upon the diaphragm p and is elevated whenever the liquid beneath the diaphragm is volatilized.

The mode of operation of the apparatus embodying the features of my invention may be described as follows: Water from the main or other source of supply is introduced into the compartment A through the perforated extension a of the pipe Ai'and percolating downward moistens the coke and collects in the bottom of the compartment, while at the same time hot gas from the producer entering through the pipe 13 passes the water seal, and in ascending becomes purified by contact with the moist coke and imparts its heat to the water. The heated water leaves the compartment A through the pipe A, and circulating around the thermostat P is collected in the receptacle A for equalizing its temperature and flowin g out of this receptacle through the overflow-pipe A is distributed upon the surface of the coke in the compartment A and percolating downward imparts its heat to the coke. At the same time air is introduced through the pipe D into the lower portion of compartment A and ascending is heated and moistened by impinging upon or contactingwith the warm damp coke. The heated and moistened air passes from the compartment A through the pipe 0 to the compartment 3, thence through the vertical tubes 3 to the compartment 1 and pipe O to the ash-pit, whence it passes to the burning fuel. During the passage of the heated and moistened air through the tubes 3 it becomes-superheated by reason of the heat imparted to the tubes by the gas from the producer, which circulates around them on its passage to the scrubber.

In the practice of the invention it is preferable that the heated and moistened air pass from the compartment A at aconstant temperature, and therefore a thermostat isemployed for so regulating and controlling the admission of water from the main or other source of supply tothe top of the compartment A as that the water may leave the bottom of the compartment at a constant temperature. If the temperature of the water flowing through the cup P and contacting with the shell 1) is for any cause increased and becomes higher than is required to warm the air, such increase of temperature volatilizes the liquid inclosed in the space between the shell 19 and the diaphragm p and actuates the piston 19 and rod of to open the valve or stop-cock a, whereby the supply of cold water entering the compartment A is increased, and consequently the temperature of the water flowing from the .bottom thereof is decreased, and thus it will be greater than the gas-holder G can acconr modate, the surplus will escape through the branch E and pipe 0.

I do not claim herein the special construetion of producer, as that forms the subjectmatter of another application, Serial No. 345,892. Neither doI claim herein the special construction of the thermostat northat of the gas-holder, as they may form the subjectsmatter of other applications; but,

Having described the nature and objects of my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, in apparatus for making gas, is

1. The combination, with a producer, of a scrubber connected thereto, a moistenercom municating with the scrubber and the producer, a water-feed pipe discharging into the scrubber, a thermostat interposed between the scrubber and moistener and connected with a controlling-valve in thewater-feed pipe,

and an airsupply pipe opening into the moistener, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination of a scrubber, a moistener, a water-feed pipe discharging into said scrubber, a waste-pipe leading from the scrubber, a tank into which said waste-pipe opens, a thermostat located in said tank, suitable connections between the thermostat and the water-feed pipe to regulate the supply of water to the scrubber, and a pipe leading from said tank and discharging into the moistener, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. The combination, with a producer, a scrubber, a superheater interposed between the producer and scrubber, and suitable con nections between them, of a water-supply pipe constructed to discharge into the scrubber, a moistener connected to said scrubber to receive the heated water therefrom, a thermostat interposed between the scrubber and inoistener and connected with a controllingvalve in the water-supply pipe, a pipe to supply air to the moistener, and suitable connections leading from the moistener to the superheater and from the latter to the producer, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

4. The combination, with a producer, a scrubber, a superheater interposed between them, and suitable connections between the producer, superheater, and scrubber, of a Water-supply pipe constructed to discharge into the scrubber, a tank constructed to receive the water from the scrubber and discharge it into the moistener, a thermostat in said tank, means connected therewith to control the supply of water to the scrubber, a pipe to supply air to the moistener, and suitable connections leading from the moistener to the superheater and from the latter to the producer, substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. The combination, with a producer, a scrubber, a superheater interposed between and connected to the scrubber and producer, and a water-feed pipe discharging into the scrubber, of a tank into which the water is discharged from the scrubber, a thermostat in said. tank, suitable connections between the thermostat and the water-feed pipe, whereby the supply of water to the scrubber is regulated, a moistener, a pipe leading from the tank and discharging into said moistener, an airsupply pipe opening into the moistener, suitable connections leading from the moistener to the superheater and from the latter to the scrubber, a gas-holder, and a pipe leading from the scrubber to the holder, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my signature in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. 7

PAUL A. N. WINAND. Witnesses:

GEO. W. REED, CHAS. O. COLLIER. 

